Feasibility Analysis from Ryerson University

Early in April, Baba Yaga Place (BYP) members, Ryerson students and invited guests gathered in a classroom at Ryerson University to hear a presentation from seven graduate students who are completing their Master’s Degree in Planning. The students had undertaken, as their term project, to provide a report on housing, with a focus on the BYP priorities. Beginning in January 2017 and over the course of the project, members of the BYP Housing Committee were involved in a series of meetings at Ryerson’s Urban and Regional Planning Faculty to provide input, and to ask questions of the students.

The presentation on April 4th marked the completion of the consultation project. The final report provided several important tools for making the BYP project a reality, including:

(a) A Site Selection Process: setting out criteria that BYP may use and identifying a scoring system for such issues as Amenities, Safety,
Environmental Responsibility, and others.

(b) Three scenarios from properties currently on the market:

◙ Move-in ready apt, however this section was assuming a purchase, which is not part of the core BYP vision
◙ Retrofit: repurpose an existing building
◙ New building

In each instance, a review of purchase vs rental option was outlined.

(c) Summary Analysis

It should be noted that the students’ focus on purchasing property, rather than renting, which is in fact one of the BYP core issues, makes that part of the report mostly academic. The report did provide rental option information however, and overall, is comprehensive and very detailed. The BYP Housing Committee is finding it useful in completing their mandate. The expectation is that other committees will, also.

As a gesture of thanks, the students were presented with a Certificate of Appreciation from BYP. Many thanks to members of our Steering Committee and Housing Committee for their preparations prior to the start of the project and their invaluable input along the way.

Note that the 100 page report will soon be available in the Members’ section of the website.